Refrigeration apparatus



0t 23, 1945. E. c. TANNER 2,387,622

' l REFRIGERATION APPARATUS l Filed March 8, 1943 l 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 w TEsz INVENTQR v EL@ c 7am/Eg caga( i BY Y l ATToR-Y OC- 23 1945- E. c.TANNER 2,387,622

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS INVENTOR A gcnm/Ee" M Jel( Y l Patented Oct. 23,1945"" OFFICE 2,391,622 y BEFaIGEaAnoN APPARATUS El` c. Tanner,springfield, Mass.,-

`Westinghouse Electric Corporation,

assignor to East Pittsburgh, 2a.', a corporation of PennsylvaniaApplication March sf, 1943, serial No. 478,341 a claims. (ci. zz-1oz)This invention relates, to refrigeration appa- 'ratus, and moreparticularly to a refrigerator em-` ploying forced air circulation. y w

One object of the invention is'to provide a refrigerator employing novelair circulating and refrigerating apparatsiincorporated ina remov l ableunit. y

1 Another object of theinvention is to provide a centrally locatedcooling and air circulating apparatus whichis removable from the cabinetas a unit.

A further object of the invention is .to provide refrigerating and aircirculating apparatus for a refrigerator and an enclosing duct therefor,which isidetachable therefrom Itoffacilitate the removal of theapparatus from the cabinet as a unit.

These and other objects are 'eiected by my invention as will be apparentfrom the following description and claims taken. in connection with theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Mg. l is a longitudinal `vertic'al section ,of 'the apparatus of vthisinvention applied to a bottle cooler, The section is taken on the lineVI-I- of Fig.

Fig. 2- is a vertical section Aon the line II-II f :Figil A Fig. 3 is aschematic drawing/oi. the thermostat ci the apparatus o this inventiontig. t elevation showing the adaptation of the apparatus oi' thisinvention to a reach-in cooler g 5 is a vertical section on'the lineIV--IV or ria t:

Eidg. t :is an elevation showing the adaptation of the apparatus of thisinvention to a display case; and,

i is a sectional view ci' Fig. t.

Referring now to Figs. l, 2, and 3 for a detailed description voi? theinvention, the reference numeral I 4 represents an insulated cabinetcomprising an outer shell Il, an inner liner I2, and heatinsulatingmaterial I3 packed therebetween. Ihe cabinet I 0 comprises two end wallsI4, two side walls I6, 'a' bottom wall I1, and a top wall Il. The topwall I8 comprises a removable cover composed of two sections hingedtogether.l The )ottoni wall I1 4includes a removable portion I9 whichextends substantially to the two side walls I8 `but is spaced from thetwol end walls I4.

- The removable bottom portion I9 comprises an ipper plate 2|; a lower'plate 22, and heatnsulating material between the plates 2| and l22.l'he upper plate 2| rests on a gasket 24 vsup- `on the line VI-VI on thecooling unit 29 by means of hook eleported onthe' inner liner I2of thebottom wall. The lower plate 22 rests on a gasket 26 secured to asupport 21 which also supports,y the outer shell Il of the bottom wallI'I.

A cooling unit 29 rests on and is'secured by screws 3| to the removableportion I9 of the bottom wall I1. The cooling unit 29 comprises aplurality of parallel and spaced-apart metal plates 32 'through which arefrigerant-carrying tube 33 passes back and forth at right angles tothe plates 32. A motor driven fan 34 is supported above the cooling unit29 and isadapied to drawair upwardly through the lspaces between theplates 32 of the'cooling unit 29.

A removable shroud structure 31 is supported ments 38 whchengage thelower edges of the shroud structure 31. The shroud structure 31 extendssidewardly substantially to each Tof the two side walls iGlof thecabinet iB and extends verticallyfrom near the bottom wall i1'of thecooler to near-'the top wall I8 thereof. The

.l shroud structure 31 thus forms a partitionvin the center o1' thecabinet I0 which divides the same into twostorage chambers. shroudstructure 3l above the ian 34 is reduced irs-area to provide a duct 39.`A curved plate il extends over the opening of the duct 39 and is spacedtherefrom to provide two sidewardly facing air outlets i2. l

t removable shelf t3 is supported in each of the storage chambers onbrackets secured to the side walls i6 of the cabinet i0. Each of theshelvesV d3 comprises an imperforate portion 4U located adjacent theshroud 3i and a short grille portion d located adjacent` an end wall i4. 'I'he shelves i3 are spaced above'the bottom wall I1 of the cabinetlll to provide air ducts therewith and extend sidewardly to "the sidewalls I6 of the cabinet HU.

'When the motor Ydriven fan 34 is in operation,

air from adjacent the bottom of the cooling unit 29 is drawn upwardly;therethrough, passes 45 through the duct 39,\ and issues from each ofthe .50 of the shelves 43.

circulating paths through the storage chamber andthe coolingunitis'relatively short. vThe l central location of the cooling4 unit 29and of the The portion of the` 2. duct structure 81, furthermore,exposes them on two sides to the heatradiated from the articles chamberis empty, it is reiled with'botties and lwhile these bottlesare beingcooled, the com bottles of the other chamber are` dispensed. The coldair from the cooling unit, furthermore,v rst passes over the upperbottles in the chambers so that these bottles are cooled first. Theupper bottles are also the ones which will be [dispensed first from eachchamber so Athat dis- `pensation'of the coldest bottles in each chamberresults.

The cooling unit 28 is of the evaporative type and is supplied withrefrigerant by a refrigerantcondensing unit l suspended from theremovablewall portion is. This unit-l5 comprises a sealed casing 41which encloses a compressor and amotor 46 (shown only in Fig. 3) fordrivstored in the food-storage chamber so that these articles are cooledrapidly. o

The two storage chambers oi the cabinet I 0 may be used alternately sothat when one tion. The condensate vapor is carried of! by the :airstream from the motor driven fan '88.

The removable wail portion i8, together with the cooling unit 28 'andthe refrigerant condensing unit forms an integral structure which may belifted from the cabinet iii when the shelves 43 and the hinsedcover |8`are removed.

ing `the same. The compressor' withdraws vaporized refrigerant from thecooling unit 2c through .a suction tube 48. compresses it and passes thecompressed vapor through aN tube i9 to a condenser 5| wherein therefrigerant and vapor is condensed. The condensed refrigerant is thenreturned through a capillary impedance tube 52 to theevaoorator 29. Thecondenser 5| is cooled by air circulated therethrough by means of amotor driven fan 83. The sealed casing 41 is /secured to the lower wallof the removable wall portion I9 by means of brackets 86. Themotovdriven fanit is ,secured tn the removable portion I 8 by means ofbrackets B8 and the con Adenser, 8| is directly secured to the removablewall portion :Il'by screws 51. Y

The refrigerating condensing unit ll is controlled by a thermostat, thetemperature-sensitive bulb 58 of whichis located in the return airstream below one of the shelves'lt. The' thermostatisshowndiagrammatlcally in Fig. 3 and commises a bulb B9 which connectswith a bellows 8|. The bulb 59 contains a volatile fluid which vaporizes-when the temperature of the return air rises abovea predetermineddegree.

The increased pressure of the vapor expands the 1 bellows 8| so that acontact arm 68, attached to the bellows 8|,^ bridges a gap $4 in theelectrical supply lines .88 to the motor 8d in the sealed v casing 81.This energizes the motor 8B to actuate'the refrigerant condensingapparatus. The

motor driven fan `84 preferably runs continuously when thecooler is inuse.

With this arrangement, the .bulb 59 is responsive to the temperature-orthe an after it has passed .over the bottles to be cooled. IiQa large'number of warm'bottles are placed in the chamber in which the bulb 59is located, the air passing over. the bulb 59 will be relatively warmand will cause increased activity of the refrigerant-` supplyingapparatus 65. Underthese conditions, the cooling` unit 28 will beoperated at a lower temperature until the bottles. in the chambercontaining the bulb 59 are cooled. thus cooling the bottles rapidly.

The upperplate 2| of the removable wall portion I9 is dished andprovided with a trapped drainfwhich conducts thecondensate from thecooling unit 29 to a pan located below the refrigerant condensing unit.-Abortion of the tube ||8v passes through the interior of the pan to heatthe condensate therein to facilitate its evaporaand the coolingapparatus isremoved in the same Y When removing the integral structure-82, the duct structure 81 is preferably taken oil to xeduce thebulkiness of the structure to be removed.

The modifications` shown in Figs. 4 and 5 repl resent a reach-in coolerin which the refrigerating unit of thisinvention is installed. The upperportion 1| of the reach-in cooler comprises anv insulated chamberprovided with shelves 12 and doors 18,- The lower portion 'it oi thecabinet comprises a machine compartment 16 and two 'dry storage chambers17. The cooling unit is similar as inthe vilrst describedl modidcationand like ports are provided with the .same reference numerals. Theshroud structure comprises two sections 18 and 19 removably securedtogether throughabell joint 8|.

When the refrigerating unit is to be removed. the upper section 18 isfirst removed. Thereupon the lower portion 18can`lbe lifted iromthecooling unit so that theremovable wall portion i8 together with ytherefrigerant condensing unit 5 and the cooling unit can be removed Lfromthe cabinet in substantially the same manner as in .the previouslydescribed modification. f

The circulation of air in this modification is preferably reversed fromthat shown previously so` that the air hows upwardly througlrthe'insulated chamber 1I. 'I'his direction of circulation causeslessdehydration of foods when stored in open dishes because the air strikesthe bottom of the dish..

A further modiilcation of the invention is shown in Figs. 6 and 7, whichshow the cooling unit of this invention applied to a display case.

4The display case comprises a, long, horizontally.

extending cabinet 84 having almultiple glazed window- 85 in the frontwall thereof and sliding doors 86 in the rear. wall. The cooling unit isgenerally similar to the last described medidos-- tion of -the inventionand like parts are provided with the same referencenumerals. In thismodiw' iication, a periorate elevated platform 81 pro vides a ductsimilar to the one shown in theiirst described modification. A.perforate wall 85, spaced slightly below 'the upper wall of the displaycase, provides a similar air duct which com-v municates with the upperend of upper portion '19 of the shroud structure. The airpassessubmanner as in the last described modification.

It will be yapparent from the above that this l invention provides aunitary retrigerating and air circulating apparatus which is removableas a unit from the refrigerator cabinet with which it is associated. Itwill be further| apparent that placed thereupon 'as are speciilcally setforth in the appended claims.,l u

What I claim is: 1. In a refrigerator, the combination of an inl sulatedcabinet having two sidewalls, two end walls, a top wall, and abottom.wa1l, said bottom wall including a removable portionl spaced fromboth of said end walls, a, cooling unit on said removable portion, saidcooling unit having vertical air passages therein communicating at theirlower ends with the air in the cabinet adjacent rsaid bottom wall, alvertical duct structure en- 'i closing said cooling unit and extendingfrom near the bottom wall to near the top wall of the cabinet, said duct.structure and cooling unit |being spaced from each of `said end wallsand extendl ing to substantially e'ach of said side walls to form a.partition dividing said cabinet into two storage chambers, animperiorate platform in each of said storage chambers, each of saidplatforms being near but spaced from the bottom wall of said chamber andextending from adjacent the duct structure to within a short distance ofthe i nearest end wallof the cabinet, each of said platforms alsoextending substantially from one side wall to the other side wall bfsaid cabinet, said platforms forming air passages with the bottom ofsaidcabinet, a Ian in said duct structure and above said cooling unitfor forcibly moving air through the duct structure, whereby said air iscirculated through the storage chamber and through said air passages,refrigerant-supplying apparatus below saidremovablewall portion andconnected in operative relationship with said 40 stituting an airlnletand cooling unit, and means unitingsaid removable wall portion, coolingunit, and refrigerant-supplying apparatus into a unitaryv structure,said structure being removable as a unit from the i cabinet.

2. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet having aninsulatedtop, bottom, and side walls, a portion of `said bottom wall beingremovable, a condensing unit suspended beneath and supported from saidremovable wall portion, an evaporator and a fan lo'cated one above theother, both said evaporator and fan being located in the bottom portionof the cabinet immediately adjacent to the removable wall portion andsupported thereon, said evaporator, fan, condensing unit, and removablewall portion being removable from the cabinet as a single structureentity, and a vertical air duct encompassing the evaporator and fan andextending upwardly to adjacent the top wall of the cabinet, one endorsaid duct constituting an air inlet and the other end-constituting anair outlet, said duct being separately removable from the cabinet. Y

3. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabi'- net having aninsulated top, bottom, side and end walls, a portion of said bottom wallspaced from one of said side walls being removable, a condensing unitsuspended beneath and support-v ed from said removable Wall portion, anevapoV rator and a fan located one above the other, both said evaporatorand fan being located in the bottom portion of the cabinet immediatelyadjacent to the removable wall portion and supported thereon, saidevaporator, ian, condensing unit, and removable wall portion beingremovable from lthe cabinet as a single structure entity, and a verticalair duct encompassing the evaporator and. fan andextending upwardly toadjacent the top wall of thmcabinet, one end of said duct conthe otherend constituting an air outlet. i ELO C; TANNER.

